Seoul — Popular South Korean boy band BTS hope their new digital single Dynamite will refresh fans and help them recharge their batteries as they cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since their 2013 debut, the seven-member group has been the forefront of South Korean pop music, winning the hearts of K-pop fans around the world.
In a live-stream news conference ahead of the release of Dynamite on Aug 21, BTS said that they hope the song would give their fans the same surge of energy it had given them.
“Everyone in the world is going through tough times right now,” member Jimin told the news conference aired via YouTube. “Dynamite is a song that can lift anyone’s spirit. We gained a lot of energy singing and rehearsing it,” he said.
RM, the group leader and rapper, said that the pandemic had forced a halt to many of the group activities but it had also allowed them to clear their heads and come up with new material.
“It served as an impetus for Dynamite, this was a ray of light, a sip of sweet water,” he said.
The group’s music label, Big Hit Entertainment, said that British songwriters David Stewart and Jessica Agombar contributed to the group’s first English-language song. The full album will be released later this year.
The boy band is scheduled to come back with two concerts in Seoul in October, with a limited audience observing social distancing, which will also be streamed online, Big Hit said.
Their tour of more than 20 concerts in America, Europe and Asia was cancelled due to the pandemic but some 756,000 fans paid to watch an online concert in June.
In 2017, BTS broke into the US market and was the first Korean group to win a Billboard music award. They performed at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in January.
The band’s release of Dynamite has broken several records. The music video for the song has reached the 10-million-view milestone. The music video for Dynamite when released on Aug 21 at 1pm KST reached 50 million views in only 8 hours and 16 minutes.
Dynamite reached 100 million views in approximately 24 hours and 27 minutes, breaking the record held by BLACKPINK’s How You Like That at 32 hours and 22 minutes.
/TISG